I created this creamy baked risotto casserole for the Food Network blog a few years ago when asked to create comfort food recipes for them. It's loaded with artichokes and radicchio, and topped with lemon-caper breadcrumbs.
Best of all, it's baked in the oven, which reduces that all-hands-on-deck thing when making risotto.
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Risotto defines comfort food, but on the stovetop, she's a demanding mistress with the ladling in of warm broth, and endless stirring to get the texture just right. I love the outcome, but rarely have time for that long nurturing process.
Luckily, there are a lot of ways to sidestep the traditional Italian method, shown in this Butternut Squash-Sage Risotto with Pears (Instant Pot and Stove Top). You can make risotto in the Instant Pot and the slow cooker, but what if you don't have a crockpot or electric pressure cooker?
You can bake it!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- You get all the creaminess of the stovetop version, with little of the work.
- It's a satisfying vegetarian meal, needing only a salad or bread as a side.
🧅 Risotto Main Ingredients + Notes
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Yellow onion
- Shallots
- Arborio rice - this is a short-grain rice typically used to make risotto. It softens to a creamy stage during cooking in liquid but still maintains a chewy center. Do not substitute another rice if you want the trademark creaminess of a true risotto.
- Radicchio - radicchio is a member of the chicory family, which is a group of cabbage-like, leafy vegetables that are known for their spicy bitterness. Look for small heads that are a wine-red color.
- Marinated or grilled artichoke hearts in a jar
- White wine
- Vegetable broth
- Gruyere cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil
🧅 Optional Breadcrumbs Ingredients + Notes
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Capers
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Garlic
- Lemon zest
- Flat leaf parsley
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this baked risotto are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Sauté. Sauté the onion, shallots and rice in a Dutch oven, or other heavy bottomed pot. Add the radicchio, artichokes, salt, pepper and wine, and simmer until the wine is absorbed.
Stir in the broth.
Step 2
Bake. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
Step 3
Make the breadcrumbs. While the risotto bakes, sauté the capers, garlic and breadcrumbs in a sauté pan. Stir in the lemon zest and parsley.
Step 4
Serve. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and serve warm.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- Toast the rice with the onion and shallots to bring up the flavor of the rice, and ensure a chewy texture at the end.
- Be sure to stir after the first 15 or 20 minutes for about 20 seconds, and again at the end when the Parmesan and/or Gruyère is added to stimulate the creaminess.
🥬 Make it Vegan
🥩 For the Meat Eaters at the Table
- Stir shrimp, scallops or crabmeat into the risotto, and slide back into the oven for 5 minutes.
- Or kick up your heels and stir in broiled or grilled lobster tail meat. I typically cook the tails separate, and stir them into the portion allotted to the meat/fish eaters at the table. I eat some fish, but I prefer my risotto straight up vegetarian.
- If you must have meat, fry up some bacon in the beginning, set aside and crumble, and use the bacon grease in place of olive oil to sauté the vegetables and rice. Stir in the bacon crumbles when the cheese is added.
📇 More Risottos You Might Like
Easiest Instant Pot Tomato Risotto
Butternut Squash-Sage Risotto with Pears (Instant Pot and Stove Top)
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
Baked Artichoke Risotto with Radicchio
Ingredients
Risotto
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 ½ cups sliced radicchio
- 2 cups marinated/grilled artichokes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅓ cup white wine
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup Gruyere cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 10 leaves basil, thinly slivered optional garnish
- Gruyère shavings optional garnish
Caper Gremolata Breadcrumb Topping (optional)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
Risotto
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Prep the onion and shallots.
- Sauté. Add the oil to an oven-and-stovetop-safe pot, such as a Le Creuset Dutch oven, and heat over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Add the onion and shallots, and sauté for 3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the rice and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes to toast it. Add the radicchio, artichokes, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has been absorbed, about 2 minutes.
- Bake. Stir in the vegetable broth, cover the pot, and slide it into the oven to cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the oven, and stir in the Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses. Cover the pot again and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Stir the risotto a few more times, and serve topped with the basil, optional Capers Gremolata Breadcrumbs and a few shavings of Gruyère Cheese.
Capers Gremolata Breadcrumb Topping (optional)
- Warm the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the capers - they should sizzle when they hit the oil - and sauté for 1 minute. Add the garlic and breadcrumbs.
- Nudge the breadcrumbs around the pan to completely coat them. Add the lemon zest, and continue to move the breadcrumbs around the pan, until they're a golden brown color. Stir in the chopped parsley.
cheri
I love cooking risotto, it is such a great process. Wonderful combination Susan. Happy 2015!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I know - and this has got to be the easiest one I've made, Cheri. A very Happy 2015 to you too!!
lizthechef
Looks beautiful, Susan - very original combo of flavors - that, of course, work together beautifully.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Liz - thanks so very much. And so, so easy - which is a MUST these days 🙂 A very Happy 2015 to you and Larry!!
Ken Weliever
Hey Susan, I don't cook! And don't plan to start! But I'm sharing this with my wife, who does! This looks great, and sounds even better! I have a feeling I will be thanking you one winter evening soon!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks for stopping by, Ken!! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Miriam Slozberg
Oh wow, this looks absolutely divine. I also really love seafood and will try this out. I have not had risotto for a while and would like to change that 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks for stopping by Miriam! Hope you give it a go!
Jane, The Heritage Cook
I love that we were both thinking along the same lines this week - rice, baked in the oven, using a Dutch oven! I can't wait to try this technique Susan - looks fabulous! 🙂
Ashley Tukiainen
This looks delicious! I love risotto, it's the perfect comfort food. I'm so glad I found you...or you found me, however we want to look at it. I hope to be accepted into culinary school this year also. Do you have any posts you've written on food photography? Your pictures are gorgeous!
Choc Chip Uru
I haven't tried baked artichoke before, nor in risotto, but your photos are too enticing not to try it 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Susan@LunaCafe
Seriously? I don't have to stand at the stove for 30 minutes or more? What a time saver. Love it!
The Ninja Baker
What a gorgeous turn of phrase, Susan...Risotto is a demanding mistress...Your writing is as stellar as your recipes! Going back to save the baked and slow cooker versions of risotto =)
cathy branciaroli
Susan - I had seen a recipe for baking risotto but hadn't tried doing that. These ingredients make it irresistable.
marcela
What a wonderful risotto, Susan! I love your recipe!
oh wow! i love this recipe! the meat looks so delicious!
PS. I'm organizing a chocolate contest on my bilingual blog. Maybe you'd like to join us? 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Marcela! I would love to participate in your chocolate contest, but I've got so many commitments over the next few weeks, it may be difficult. I'll see what I can do 🙂 thanks so much for reaching out!
Sarah @ SnixyKitchen
I love how much easier you made this dish! And it's got all of my favorite flavors (in particular the artichokes). Pinning to try soon!
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories
Oh man, this looks soo good!! I have been intimidated by risotto but this looks so doable.
Michelle @ The Complete Savorist
What a delicious looking dish. Love it.
swathi
Looks delicious love these kind of one pot meal.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Me too! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Nibbles By Nic
I love the idea of a bread crumb topping. Need to try this yummy dish ASAP!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much - and thanks for stopping by!
Dee Dee (My Midlife Kitchen)
This looks fantastic! I love the addition of the radicchio! That crunch sounds like a great counterpoint to the creaminess of the dish. I have on my recipe list another baked risotto dish, too--great minds think alike. :o)
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It really is one of my favorite risottos, and now I'll ALWAYS bake them. So, so much easier!
heather | girlichef
Artichokes, radicchio, gruyere...this sounds rich, comforting, and absolutely heavenly!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Heather!
Laura @MotherWouldKnow
I adore risotto - and your version looks supremely easy. The breadcrumb topping is a huge plus in my book too!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Laura! And thanks for stopping by!
Chris McDonald
45 minutes in the oven seemed long to me--I've seen some oven risotto times as short as 20-25 minutes--but the comments were so positive that I followed the recipe precisely. The result tasted great but was total mush, basically porridge. Has anyone else had this issue? My choice of rice? I used Lundberg's arborio.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so sorry the texture was so mushy!Lundberg's arborio is great, and shouldn't have been a problem at all. I'll make it again and double check the time. The dryness of the rice can affect the time, as can the type of baking pot and how well it conducts heat. But it shouldn't have made that big a difference. I'll report back once I make it again. I'm traveling to a food and wine event this week and won't be able to make it until Sunday. Stay tuned, and my apologies!